The North Carolina Tar Heels didn’t take long to replace Gene Chizik after parting ways with the former defensive coordinator. Just a few days after the Tar Heels made that decision, they zeroed in on their target and now they reportedly have landed him.
Per a report from Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, the Tar Heels are set to hire Geoff Collins to serve as defensive coordinator in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels reportedly had Collins as their top target per John Brice of Football Scoop and didn’t wait long to pursue him,
Collins accepted the job offer on Friday morning per the report.
The 52-year-old Collins has years of experience coaching at the college level and was most recently the head coach at Georgia Tech from 2019-2022 before being fired. He did not coach in 2023.
Former Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins has now accepted the defensive coordinator job at North Carolina, sources tell @247Sports.
Collins, whom @JohnDBrice1 first mentioned as UNC’s top target, previously led the way for highly-ranked defenses as the DC at Florida and… pic.twitter.com/k5ebfAv1QF
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 5, 2024
Prior to that, he was the head coach at Temple.
In his career, Collins has served as defensive coordinator at Western Carolina, Florida International, Mississippi State, and Florida. He also has stops at UCF and Alabama for stints in his career.
Collins has found success as a defensive coordinator in the past and he’s also been a really good recruiter as well. That could be a big benefit for the Tar Heels especially targeting the south region.
An official announcement is expected soon.
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